Manding Bory. Once again, we are instructed to see women as inhumane, one-dimensional, base creatures of the fairer sex. She is portrayed as a tyrannical leader after the death of her husband, King Nare Maghan, as she disobeys his wishes and acts as imperious force against his other wives and their offspring, including the prolific Sundiata, the supposedly deserving heir to his throne. It is important to note that this emphasis on her cruelty ties hand in hand into another archaic and paternalistic ideal that women are neither capable nor suitable of being nonpartisan rulers, and are bound to the emotional feminine binary, rather than the dichotic male rationale. Yet, it can be noted throughout the text that although her actions were supposedly of a dishonourable and sinister nature, but they may also be construed as an attempt to protect both her own and her son’s future prospects.
King Creon’s attitude on gender ultimately leads to his downfall and his ruin. Antigone’s rebellion against King Creon’s decree challenges both gender influences at the time as well as a sense of hierarchy. The fact that Antigone is woman plays a profound role in the story. Creon admits that he needs to defeat her because of her gender. Antigone’s refusal to lay down and follow the king’s command shows an aggressive side of Antigone.
Tessie Hutchinson, one of the main characters represents women who are being tyrannized by society because of their gender. Devices such as symbolism and plot illustrate the condemned roles of women in the gender hierarchy. Also, the use of ideas such as betrayal within the strong marriage bond due to the traditional sacrifice, the senior figure of society, and the following of tradition passed down from generation demonstrate the power of females in this generation are brought up to the podium to be arguably conversed. The plot of “The Lottery” is that men had the most dominance over political decisions. This left no room for woman’s input or acknowledgment.
She shows how women can only be categorised as either an angel or a whore. It shows the way that women can only be judged at the time. She also frequently alludes to the “bad” women in literature to show how women could only be categorised in those binary opposites like Lady Macbeth or Eve. She uses rhetorical devices to explain how bad women are needed to disrupt the static order which is Patriarchy. Atwood also shows her opposition to the extreme feminism that existed in her time where feminism was influencing the creation of literature at the time.
In Lepines’ letter, he sites how feminists had ruined his life and they were the reason he committed this crime. Feminist theory on crime explains this thought clearly. Lepines’ ideas about the roles of women were formed by a patriarchal society leading him to believe in some that women were not equal to men and should not be given all the opportunities of men (Knuttila, 305). These women wanted to be educated and become engineers; Lepine could not cope with this fact and blamed women, namely feminist for his short comings in life. Did Lepine come up with these ideas himself or was he a product of a society that dictated classical roles and oppression of women?
As one of the few gods to be married of the Greek Pantheon she is frequently unfaithful to her husband. Hephaestus is one of the most even-tempered and humorless of the Hellenic Deities. Of her many lovers Aphrodite preferred Ares, the volatile god of war as she was attracted to his violent nature according to the narrative embedded in the Odyssey. She is one of a few characters who played a major part in the original cause of the Trojan War itself: not only did she offer Helen of Troy to Paris, but the abduction was accomplished when Paris, seeing Helen for the first time, was inflamed with desire to have her—which is Aphrodite's realm. In the novel The Golden Ass, Lucius Apuleius written in the second century A.D , Aphrodite poses as a secondary character in the Tale of Eros and Psyche.
From now on they’ll act like women”(lines 651-652). Antigone challenges this by going against Creon’s law, showing that women were bold and courageous. Woman back in ancient Greece couldn't really do much because they were thought as minority to men. Additionally, Creon tells everyone in the room that no woman is going to overpower him. He says, “While I’m alive, no woman is going to lord it over me”(lines 592-593).
she demonstrates the absurdity of the men of the industrial era’s repeatedly and calls attention to the erroneous and backwards thinking of the times through comedic satire. A powerful example of such satire from Howe's speech is in her introduction. she sarcastically proclaims “woman suffrage is the reform against nature” and continues to point out the ladies present in the crowd and their physical, mental and “general debility”. she sarcastically demonstrates the “debilities” of women to a point which they couldn’t possibly mark a ballot or drop it in a box and continues to lay on the sarcasm as the possibility of a woman completing such a simple and menial task is impossible because “all nature is against it. the laws of man cry out against it.
Creon’s Discrimination in Antigone Despite how prejudice and unjust, women have not always been treated fairly. In Antigone, a play by Sophocles, Creon, the king, displays an extremely discriminatory attitude to women and he unfortunately suffers in the end, undergoing a harsh downfall. He disregards the value that women have and shows lots of animosity towards Antigone, not only because of her “criminal” actions in going against his proclamation, but because she is a female. He then becomes impulsive with his decision-making and suffers immensely due to his nebulous view on female equality. Sophocles characterizes Creon as a sexist ruler who has little value for women, which consequently leads to his downfall.
A patriarchy is defined as a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. Such systems currently exist in several forms and areas around the world; however, the most common place for these patriarchies is in our literature. Men are distorted by patriarchy both in being socially labeled as aggressive but, also shamed as they look into the mirror and see themselves. Shakespeare uses polarizing examples of feminism in Hamlet. He depicts women as completely sexual creatures and also devalues women in the eyes of men.